Automatic baseball game



Sept. 27,1927. E B ROPP 3,5

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Sept. 27, 1927. E. B. ROPP AIJTOMA'IJIC BASEBALL GAME Filed June 13,1925 16 Sheets-Sheet 8 1,643,522 Sept. .27, 1927. E B. ROPP AUTOM ATICBASEBALL GAME Filed June 13, 1925 l6 SheetseSheet 9 Sept. 27,1927. E BROPP 3,5

AUTOM ATIC BASEBALL GAME- Filed June 15, 1925 l6 Sheets-Sheet 1O Sept.27',

E. B. ROPP AUTOMATIC BASEBALL GAME Filed June 13, 1925 16 Sheets-Sheet11 56 I All? @159 Sept. 27, I E. B. ROPP AUTOMATIGBASEBALL GAME FiledJune 13, 1925 16 Sheets-Sheet 13 /izzfzg Sept. 27, 1927.

E. B. ROPP AUTOMATIC BASEBALL GAME Filed June 1:5, 192s 16 Sheets-Sheetl4 Sept. 27, 1927. I E. B ROPP AUTOMATIC BASEBALL GAME Filed June 13.1925 jgyiza 16 Sheets-Sheet l6 Patented ,Sept. 27 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,643,522 PATENT OFFICE.

EZRA B. ROPP, OF OKLAHOMA CITY, OKIlAH OMA.

AUTOMATIC BASEBALL GAME.

'Application filed June 13, 1925. Serial-No. 36,986.

' of hit that is made, and with scoring apparatus for the same.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a machine orapparatus of the above character adapted to be played in a manner'closely resembling an actual base ball game, and in which the resultsare determined largely by the skill of the player or players.

There are many features of my invention and these will be moreparticularly pointed out in the ensuing portion of the specification andappended claims.

'Before taking up the drawings, I believe it advisable to first referbriefly to the preferred device embodying my invention.

In general, a base ball field is provided, havingthe usual outfield,infield and dia mond with base positions, together with a battingapparatus controlled by the operator and a ball feeding and pitchingapparatus also controlled by the operator. That is the pitchingapparatus is manually manipulated 30 to pitch the ball toward a bat,which is swung by the manual manipulation of the operator. When the ballis hit it is-knocked out into the field, preferably by rolling over thesurface where it may drop down into any one of a number of differentcontrol positions having electric contacts which advance runners overthe bases according to the hit made. According to the present form of myinvention one, two, three and four base hits may be made. Also sacrificeas in a regular game.

hits may be made, or'the player is put out either by a strike-out or byhitting the ball to certain positions in the infield or outfield. Themen are advanced on the bases That is, assuming the first ball hit isfor one base, a runner is automatically advanced to first base. Shouldthe next hit be for two bases, the man on first is advanced to third andthe batter advanced to second base, all automatically.

65 batter, makes a complete circuit of the bases.

Thus as described, three hits have been made and these would all beautomatically recorded on the score board. Also three runs having beenmade, they would be automatically recorded on the score board. Thusthegame continues until one side makes three outs, the outs also beingrecorded. Then the other side or opponent} player controls the machine.and continuesuntil three outs are made. Outs and innings are automatically indicated, so that one can always tell at a glance the score ofthe game and what inning and the number of outs. Where two people areplayingthe game, first one operates the machine until three outs aremade and then the opponent operates it. Or any number on each side mayplay. This contlnues up to the capacity of the machine. In the presentform of my invention the machine is designed to operate forfive fullinnings, when it is automatically rendered inoperative and requiresthedeposit of another coin before it can be played again. It is to beunderstood, however, that my invention 1s not limited to any particularnumber of innings, this depending upon the de sign of the' mechanism andwhich may be extended as desired. Referring now to the accompanyingdrawings for a better understanding of my invention I Fig. 1 is aperspective view of the device as a whole, showing the base ball field,batting control knob B, pitching control handle P and the scoringapparatus at the rear of the field; I I Fig. 2 is an enlarged (fullsize) perspective View showing the batting apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation looking into the machine from the outsidealong the third base line, and showing the setting lever and pitchingcontrol apparatus with the pitching handle P;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view along the line 44 of Fig. 3, also showing someof the ball receiving, storing, feeding and pitching apparatus;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, showing theball receiving, storing, feeding and pitching apparatus;

Fig. 6 is a left side elevation along the line 66 of Fig. 4, showingsome of the pitching apparatus and particularly the parts used forgiving a snap or quick pitching action to the ball and also a uniformspeed. to the pitched balls;

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view along the line 77 of Fig. 4, showingthe check apparatus for maintaining the fed balls in the chute leadingup.to,-,the pitching arm;

' Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view through the rotatable pitchingcontrol apparatus along theline 88 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation along the line 9-9 of Fig. 3, showing theholding mechanism for maintaining the pitching arm P in operativerelation to the pitching mechanism, the holding mechanism being adaptedto be actuated at the termination of five innings to uncouple thepitching arm from the pitching mechanism until the setting leverisoperated; I

Fig. 10 is a vertical section along the line 10-10 of Fig. 3, showingthe retaining pawl for maintaining the parts locked to preventinterferenceand uncoupling of the pitching arm after it has once beenset for a game;

Fig. 11 is a front elevation of the score registering drums shown at thescore board at the rear of the field, together with the controlmechanism therefor, being along the line 1111 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 12 is a plan sectional-view along the line 12--12 of Fig. 11,showing the score control apparatus;

Fig. 13 is a side elevation partly in section along the line 1313of'Fig. 12, showing the shifting mechanism for shifting the op eratingrods from the hit and run score drums for one side to the drums forscoring for the other or opposing side;

Fig. 1a is a plan sectional view along the line 141 l of Fig. 11,showing more particularly the winding mechanism for winding up the sprinfor advancing the large central drum which registers the outs and theinning which is being played;

Fig. 15 is a plan sectional view along the line 15 15 of Fig. 13,showingmore in detail the scoring rod shifting device;

Fig. 16 is a cross sectional view along the line 16-16 of Fig. 1, thatis through the framework at the outer edge of the outfield and showingthe ball receptacles or openings for operating the advance and scoringmechanism, this view also showing afield trapdoor adapted to be placedin desired parts of the infield and outfield for controlling theadvancing and scoring mechanism as desired; i

Fig. 17 is a cross sectional view along the line 17-17 of Fig; 16,showing the trapdoor mechanism and contact makers which receive the ballfor controlling the player advancing and the scoring mechanism;

Fi 18 is a vertical sectional view along the l1ne-1818 of Fig. 16,showing the pockets or ball receiving positions together. with thecontact makers positioned therein;

Fig. 19 is a plan view of the player advancing mechanism locatedimmediately beneath the infield, along line l9l9 of Fig.

20, with portions of the field surface broken away to more clearly showthe parts, this view also showing portions of the hit and run scoringmechanism, the apparatus being positioned beneath the diamond with thelarge sprocket wheel at the home plate and the other wheels positionedbeneath the corresponding bases;

Fig. 20 is a side elevation of the apparatus of Fig. 19, along the line20-20 thereof, which is along the line from the home plate to firstbase;

Fig. 21 is a side elevation along the line 21-21 of Fig. 19, showingmore in detail the apparatus for operating the run scoring mechanism andcontrolling the player figures for properly placing them in battingposition;

Fig. 22 is a plan sectional view of the motor and motor controlmechanism along the line 2222 of Fig. 23; i

Fig. 23 is a right end elevation in section through the motor shaftalong line 2323 of Fig. 22;

Fig. 24 is a bottom view looking upward ly along line 2424 of Fig. 23;

Fig. 25 is a vertical sectional View along line 2525 of Fig. 22;

Fig. 26 is a plan view in section along.

line 26-26 of Fig. 25, showing the armatures of the base hit magnets;

line 2727 of Fig. 25; and

Fi 28 is a diagrammatic illustration of the electrical circuit for theapparatus.

Referring now more in detail to the apparatus employed, I will take upthe construction and operation of the various. units and theircooperation.

. Batting apparatus.

preferably of metal so as to give it suflicient weight and also becauseI preferably use a metal ball, the ball used being an ordinary diameter.The bat 30 is positioned at the home plate, as indicated ,in Fig. 1, sothat as the ball 31 is pitched from the pitchers box PB it may be met bythe bat asthe bat is swung, and knocked out over the field as in aregular game. The ball is preferably rolled out over the field when hit,so a comparatively heavy one is used. The bat as ositioned in Fig. 1 isfor a left handed atter, although this may be shifted as desired. Thebat is preferably. mounted so that it may be swung in a circle, and tothis end is supported upon a 'vertical shaft 33 rotatably mounted at itsupper and lower Fig. 27 is a plan sectional view along the steel bearingball of about 4 of an inch in ends and carrying a pulley 34 at the lowerend. This pulley is connected to an. operatirg pulley 35 by a suitablebelt 36 traveling over pulleys 3738. I interpose a spring 39 in the beltso as to keep the belt taut and also give a more resilient or snapaction to the bat. The driving pulley 35 is mounted upon a rotatableshaft 40 carrying a batting lcnob B. A suitable soft stop in the natureof a rubber buffer 41 is so mounted that the bat 30 will stop againstthe buffer at either end of its swing.

To operate the bat 30, the operator or player grasps the batting knob Band manipulates it, preferabl swinging the bat back of the positionindicated in Fig. 1 as in a regular game. Then as the ball is pitched,the knob B is rotated clockwise by a short snappy movement so as toswing the bat to meet the ball. After some experience .the operator orplayer becomes expert, so that the hall can be hit in desired directionsjust as in an ordinary base ball game.

I preferably position the scoring apparatus and connect it so that thehits in this game correspond in a measure to the hits in a regular game.That is, it is known that a ball hit ordinarily to a certain part of thefield will give a runner two bases. Then again a ball hit withincatching range of a fielder usually will result in an out. Accordingly,I arrange the control contacts around on the field and at the edge ofthe field so as to give results corresponding to the ordinary game. Aplayer upon becoming expert with my game is enabled to hit the ball mostof the time to the more desirable spots, while the poorer player, havingless control, is not so successful. Thus, to a great extent, the gamedepends upon the skill of the player in manipulating the bat insynchronism with the pitched ball.

Ball receiving, storing, feeding and pitching apparatus.

Now as to the ball receiving, storing, feed ing and pitching apparatus,this is shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 3 to 10, inclusive.

Generally speaking, the pitching knob P is manipulated, that is thecrank is given one rotation for each ball pitched. That is by giving thepitchers crank P one rotation in the direction of the arrow indicated inFig. 1, the apparatus is operated to pitch one ball toward the homeplate. In the operation of the mechanism, the player preferably standsat the near corner of the table shown in Fig. 1, grasping the battingknob B in the right hand and the pitching knob P in the left .hand. Or,of course, this may be reversed if desired. The knob P is then rotatedto pitcha ball and as the ball leaves the pitchers box PB and approachesthe home plate, the batters knob B is manipulated to swing the bat 30toward the oncoming ball. I preferably provide mechanism which gives thesame speed to the pitched ball irrespective of the speed of rotatien ofthe pitching knob PL That is a tripping mechanism is employed, which iswound up and released so as to always effect the same snap action to thepitching arm which throws the ball out of the pitchers box PB.

Referring now more in detail to the mechanism referred to, the pitchersknob P is mounted upon a suitable crank carried by the rotatably mountedshaft 42, which extends downwardly through the outer frame 43 of thecabinet and longitudinally slidably through the clutch sleeve 44 intothe hub or crank shaft 45. Shaft 42 carries a yoke member 46 adapted toset down over the stud 47 of sleeve 44, so that the entire shaft 42 maybe pulled upwardly out of the hub and out of the frame. That is, thepitching shaft may thus befreed from the entire apparatus to prevent itsoperation by simply pulling out the pin 48, thereby detaching theholding arm 46 from the shaft and permitting the shaft 42 to be pulledupwardly.

Normally with the apparatus inoperative, the clutch sleeve 44 is in itsupper or dotted position with the clutch finger 49 clear of the hub 45,the clutch operating lever 50 also then being in its dotted position tohold the clutch parts 4945 disconnected. By normally I mean with thepitching shaft disconnected. This clutch operating lever 50 is pivotallysupported upon a stud 51, which also carries a lever 52 connected by alink 53 to setting lever 54 which is manually actuated so that the lever52 may be dropped downwardly so that the pawl 55 carried at its end mayhook over the clutch operating lever 50 when it is down in its dottedposition and then lift it up into its full line position, as shown inFig. 3, to put the clutch finger 49 in operative engagement with the hub45. 7

It might be mentioned at this time that the machine is preferablyarranged to disconnect the pitching crank at the end of five innings offull play, and for this purpose release arm 57 (Fig. 9) is moved towardthe right to hook over tail piece 55 of the pawl, so that when releasearm 57 moves toward the left again the pawl 55 is pulled free of thelever 50, allowing it to be pulled downwardly by the spring 58 into itsdotted line position, thereby lifting the clutch member 44 with itsfinger 49 clear of the driving hub 45 and thereby disconnecting them.-It will be noted that release arm 57 is supported in a guide 60, whichis curved on a radius with shaft 51 as a center so that this arm 57 mafollow down with the tail piece 55' for a s ort distance, but stillremain in operative relation. This is so as to permit lockingcooperation of the clutch, although the setting lever 54 is not fullymoved to its ill] limit of movement. In other words, to take care ofslight differences in manual opera tion of the setting lever.

In order to retain the levers 5052 in their upper position and thusmaintain the clutch parts locked together, I provide a locking pawl 61pivotally mounted at its lower end and spring pressed toward the lever52, so that the teeth in the locking pawl 61 (Fig. will engage theinclined tooth 52 and hold lever 52 in its upper position. The lockingpawl 61 is held in a uide 52 to prevent side play.

It will be noted that the pawl 61 has a peculiar cam shape at 61 (Fig.10), so that when looking lever is released at the time holding pawl isoperated, said lever drops downwardly and engages this cam portion 61 soas to move pawl 61 and release it from the lever 52, permitting lever 52to be moved downwardly for a subsequent operation by I posited, slidemanual setting lever 54 when the machlne is to be started in play again.

I have referred to the manual setting lever 54 as being preferably undercoin control and I have shown in Fig. 1 a coin receiving device 63,which may be of any suitable construction and in which a slide 64 ismounted, which extends through to the end shown in Fig. 3 which isconnected to the slotted end of arm 54. Thus when a coin is de 64 may bepulled outwardly, thereby pulling'lever 54 to the right to its extremeposition, and then slide 64 is shoved back restoring lever 54 to itsposition of Fig. 3, this reciprocation bringing the pitching shaft intocooperative relation with the pitching mechanism through the clutch 45,as already referred to. This reciprocation of-slide 64 releases the camand-the slide and lever 64 are locked until the end of the game anddeposit of another coin.

Referring now to the ball receiving, feeding and pitching apparatus,which is controlled by the rotation of the pitching crank P, and whichapparatus is more particularly shown in Figs. 1 and 3 to 10, inclusive,this said mechanism is controlled through a link 65 carried upon theeccentric or crank 66 (Fig. 4) of the hub 45, which is rotatablysupported upon the bearing 67. Thus when the pitching shaft 42 isrotated the eccentric 66 is rotated one turn, thereby giving a completereciprocation to the link 65. This link is connected to an arm 68pivotally connected to a link 69 which extends back to the feeding andpitching apparatus shown more clearly in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 8.

This pitching control unit is connected through said link 69 back to theoperating lever 68 as-previously stated, and this unit comprises a mainshaft which with its supported parts are carried by the bracket bearings7 3-74 mountedupon the main base X.

Rotatably supported upon the shaft 72 is a sleeve 75, rigidly attachedto which is the arm 76 having a rear extension 77 to which the operatinglink 69 is pivotally attached, said arm 76 also carrying apawl 78 with areleasing tail piece 78. Thus as the link 69 is reciprocated through theaction of the pitching knob, said arm 76 and sleeve 75 are reciprocatedupon the shaft 72, moving the pawl 78 from its-full line positionindicated by the tail piece 78' (Fig. 6) to the dotted line position asshown in Fig. 6. Thispawl 7 8 is adapted to engage the tooth 79 on theplate 80, which plate is carried by ahub 81 freely rotatable upon theshaft 72. This hub 81 also carries an arm 82 having a pawl 83 mountedupon its end and adapted to be moved back into its dotted position (Fig.6) to engage the tooth 84 of a plate 85 carried by hub 86 and securelyfastened to the shaft 72. Both the pawls 78 and 83 are spring pressed,that is with the nose being pressed toward their respective plates 80and 85, but

both pawls in their full line position of Fig. 6 are being held clear oftheir plates by the releasing stops or cams 87-88 respectively. The pawl7 8 is shown with its tail piece engaged by the stop 87, which stop isengaged as the pawl is moved counter-clockwise (Fig. 6) by the returnmovement of link 69, thereby lifting the pawl free of the tooth' 79 torelease the plate 80 for a purpose hereinafter described. Tail piece 83'of pawl 83 carries a lateral extension 83 to engage the under side ofrod 89 to act as a stop and prevent too far rotation of the pawl 83 onits pivot if it should be moved back clear of the plate 85. Similar stoppieces are provided for the pawl 78, as shown adjacent the tail piece 78in Fig. 8.

Each of the plates 8085 are spring restored through chain and springconnections. That is, plate 80 has a chain 90 fastened to its hub 81,which chain is attached to a spring 91 the tension of which may bevaried by a manually adjustable lever 92 so as to vary the action of thespring and by which it is possible to vary the speed of pitched balls ifdesired. Plate 85 has a chain 93 attached to its hub 86, said chainbeing fastened to a spring 94 for restoring the plate 85 and shaft 72,as will be hereinafter described. The rotation of this shaft 72 effectsthe pitching operation of the pitching arm PA through the linkconnection 95, which is pivotally connected at its upper end to thepitching arm and at its lower end to a crank arm 96 rigidly fastened toshaft 72. Thus for each reciprocation of the crank arm 96, the pitchingarm is operated to throw a ball.

.The link connection has a spring 97 interposed therein so as to give aquick snap pitching movement. That is, it is a snore snappy movementthan if the entire'link 95 were rigid.

